


in the hospital room

by skuls



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Cancer Arc, F/M, Redux II au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-18 05:26:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10610184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skuls/pseuds/skuls
Summary: Based on the prompt "things you said in the spur of the moment"





	

**Author's Note:**

> Original post: https://how-i-met-your-mulder.tumblr.com/post/154857657383/msr-56

 

He heads straight for the hospital after his hearing. He doesn’t know what the aftermath will be, doesn’t care. Maybe he’s saved himself, or maybe he’s just bought himself time, but either way, he doesn’t care. He just wants to be with Scully until it’s over.

He’s already made up his mind that he’s not going to leave the hospital until she’s gone. Let Bill get irritated and try to drag him away; it won’t matter, because after she’s gone, he’ll be out of their hair forever. He’s perfectly willing to let them have their final moments with Scully, but he’s not going to stray too far, because he wouldn’t be able to bear it if she died and he wasn’t there, if he missed her final moments. 

He swallows painfully, navigates the halls of the hospital. He doesn’t know how to live without her, and that’s probably the scariest part. That in a few hours, days, weeks if he’s lucky and she’s not, Dana Scully will cease to exist. He’ll never talk to her again, never argue with her or hold her hand or stay up too late in their hotel rooms, see her smiling sleepily at her over manila files and lukewarm coffee and black pen smudges on both of their hands. 

He finally finds her room, and taps on the door quietly. “Come in,” Scully says softly. 

There’s a tug in his chest when he sees her. She’s sitting up in bed, which is more than a surprise; she’s been too weak to move for days. “Scully?” he says incredulously. “How are you feeling?”

She looks up at him and smiles, in that way she has that lights up her entire face. “Much better,” she says, sliding aside in bed and motioning for him to sit down. Her voice sounds much better, Mulder muses as he sits on the edge of the bed and takes her hand in his almost automatically. “How was your hearing? What happened?”

“I named the mole successfully,” he says briefly, impatient to hear about her condition. “It was Blevins.” He rubs his thumb over her fingers in an attempt to warm up her cool hands. “Are there any updates on your condition? What did the doctor say?”

She smiles wider, which he didn’t think was possible. “It’s gone. The tumor’s gone. I’m in remission, Mulder.”

For the first time in years, he finds himself at a loss for words. His fingers go slack around hers, and he stares at her in total amazement. Even though he’d had to believe that the chip would work, even though he’d wanted to try everything humanly possible to save her, he’d stayed cautious, unsure. He’d still almost expected her to die. 

Scully seems to sense his shock, prods him gently: “I’m okay, Mulder. I’m going to live.”

“I love you,” he says. Without really thinking about it. Without considering it. 

He’s not sure what to expect, either. Maybe if it were some other situation, she would roll her eyes or look up at him sadly and shake her head or maybe ( _maybe_ , but not in any scenario he could think of) she’d say it back. He’s never once considered her saying it back for more than a few minutes, though. She may have tried to kiss not-him on a couch, but that doesn’t mean she loves him. She’ll probably shake her head and smile gently and tell him he’s a good friend.

She doesn’t do any of those things. Instead, she kisses him, cupping his jawline in one hand. She crawls across the bed, practically in his lap, and curls her fingers in his hair. He doesn’t touch her back, for fear of her disappearing or breaking. _Maybe this is all a dream,_ he thinks, _where she’s alive and kisses me back._

He looks at her when she pulls away. He looks at her gently and waits for her to say something. She looks too small in her white-blue hospital gown.

“Mulder, it’s okay,” she says softly. “It’s okay.” She cups the back of his neck, like they’re in Alaska and there might be a parasitic worm in his neck. “I love you too.”

This time, he kisses her first, touches her carefully, holds her close. He can feel her still smiling against his mouth.

 


End file.
